5:42: Per Fox News, McCain will lose (if he loses) because McCain's idea of the surge worked so well and because President Bush kept us free of terrorist attacks. The national security issues have receded into the shadows, and that makes it hard for McCain.

5:48: Polls about to close in a lot of places at the top of the hour, so let's while away the moments by looking at the sedate polling place where I arrived at 9:15. Enter:

Vote:

Drop by the church-school bake sale:

6:00: CNN declares Obama the winner in Vermont and McCain in Kentucky, which is unsurprising. It does not resolve Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Virginia. So does that mean that there is no overwhelming landslide for Obama? Or is CNN playing us (or playing it safe)?

6:16: Wolf Blitzer beams in a hologram from Chicago. It's Jessica Yellin, floating about oddly. It's also funny how obvious it is that she is being photographed outdoors. There is a subtle hunching against the elements that looks slightly daffy projected indoors. [Video.]

7:00: Polls just closed in a bunch of states, and CNN is only predicting the states that were very predictable. So the big blowout is not happening.

7:09: Elizabeth Dole crushed.

7:15: In the comments, there's quite a lot of talk of getting drunk. Palladian shows us what he's got lined up:

8:34: Here, fiddle with this interactive map. It seems rather clear that Obama will win.

8:45: John King fiddles with the CNN interactive map to see if there is any way, given the states already called, that McCain could win. He gave him everything except Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington, and it was not enough to hit 270. So unless they've made some wrong calls -- and I vividly remember when Florida was called for Gore in 2000 -- McCain cannot win.

8:53: I hope the McCain supporters are holding up. Don't despair. Glenn Reynolds had an op-ed this morning saying: "[O]nce someone is duly and legally elected president, you do owe some respect to the office and the Constitution. And to your fellow Americans. I'm not an Obama fan, particularly, but a lot of people I like and respect are. To treat Obama as something evil or subhuman would not only be disrespectful toward Obama, but toward them. Instead, I hope that if Obama is elected, their assessment of his strengths will turn out to be right, and mine will turn out to be wrong." Yes, can we please not hate the President this time, for a change? (Or did I just rile you with the word "change"?)

9:01: More states called. Obama's up to 206 electoral votes... which doesn't include California (with 55). Do we have to keep watching?

9:08: "The Republican Party is getting a drubbing tonight, the likes of which we have never seen," says James Carville.

9:27: In the comments, Doyle asks, "You guys having fun?" Which provokes Palladian: "No, I wouldn't be having fun no matter who won this miserable election. But are you going to be having fun? It's not enough to sit around and bitch, you sour little cocksucker. You're in charge now! In charge of all of us! In charge of our future! You're not going to get to protect and govern only those that agree with you. You're going to have to protect and govern all of us, just like George Bush did with your sorry asses these last 8 years. We're ready for the brilliance, for the leadership, for the change and hope and all that. Time to deliver! Bring it on, doily!" Balfegor responds to the same question: "I am, actually. If we must endure the unendurable, and suffer the insufferable, we may as well have a bit of fun while we're at it. I am young, and may reasonably expect that, barring accidents, I will live to see a day when the Obama presidency is nothing more than a distant memory. And he may, after all, surprise us -- we know next to nothing about his ability to lead, or what he really believes, as he has hitherto studiously avoided any situation in which either could be put to the test."

10:00: CNN projects Obama as the winner!

10:01: I've been sitting here feeling completely cool and calm all evening. But that announcement -- that Obama has won -- gave me chills, made me almost cry. Something big has happened.

10:13: Karl Rove says "Every American should celebrate." That's on Fox, where there is some sedate but sincere celebration of the historic achievement: the first black President.

10:19: McCain speaks (over booing). "I deeply admire and commend him." He speaks of racial progress. "Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth." He urges us to "come together." "Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans."

10:37: Charles Krauthammer, on Fox, praises Obama as a self-made man, who came out of nowhere, with no real resources. He says we don't really know who he is, but we'll find out. But he seems to think -- I do too -- that Obama is not really an ideologue, but a sensible, intelligent, pragmatic man who will check the Democratic Congress.

10:52: CNN is showing the crowd -- gathered spontaneously -- around the White House. Are you where you can see or hear people celebrating in the streets? I'm not. The window is open on this warm night, but all I'm hearing is a train whistle in the distance.

10:58: Obama walks out on the stage in Chicago. He looks happy. It makes me feel happy enough to laugh out loud. Michelle is wearing a very strange dress, black with glowing redness spreading upward and downward from a black X across the midriff. The little girls look elegant, as if they'd grown much older since we saw them this morning. He compliments McCain. He tells his girls they're getting a puppy. He gives us all credit for his victory. We understand "the enormity of the task that lies ahead." (Yikes!) He's going to listen to us, but he wants us to help him "rebuild this nation." "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility." Let's not be partisan and petty. Let's remember Abraham Lincoln. He was a Republican. He faced a nation more divided than it is now. But he reached out to them. And we share a destiny with everyone in the world. "Democracy, opportunity, and unyielding hope." "America can change. Our union can be perfected." Now, he's in a sing-song poetic part of the speech, with the refrain "Yes we can." The crowd catches on and shouts the refrain. "Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America."

For me it won't be a glass of win (I predict an Obama EC landslide), or a glass of Whine (it will now all be on the Dems and no doubt they will screw up), but I do think a nice glass of Cabernet sounds about right!

readerYou're getting calls from Obama supporters I'm guessing? I've seen no less than 20 canvassers in my neighborhood the past 2 weeks for Obama, and around 6 more just today. I clicked on a link to "find your poll location" for kicks that brought to Obama's page which correctly gave me the right location. Then, also listed the names of my neighbors if I needed help getting there who happened to be registered Republicans.

The next time Republicans see a community organizer again running for President will be too soon I bet.

No one ahead of me when I voted at 3:30 today in Michigan. I had the whole place to myself! Very high-tech setup, too. I filled in my ballot behind a piece of cardboard (just a plain brown part of a box!) sitting at a child's desk. We were all laughing about that.

I'm settling in with a very cold, very dirty Grey Goose martini with three drunken olives in it.

Well I'm in for the night and prepared to watch TV continuously for the rest of the day. This is very exciting! I don't even care who wins. I sort of want it to be close and long and drawn out. But an overwhelming victory could be fun too.

A camera and microphone on Michael Barone, all night, with him having access to the best information the news agencies could get- exit poll information, turnout information, and the most up-to-date, precinct-level returns data as available.

Like his politics or not, he is a walking encyclopedia about this stuff.

You know he is doing it behind the scenes at this very moment. There would be no faster, more accurate way for us to know what has happened.

Drink of choice for the evening, 'Pomelo Collins'. If you've never tried pomelo juice with gin, do yourself a favor and head down to Whole Foods and pick one up. It's in the produce section, not far from the arugula.

my only thought is that the republic will survive all of this--now whether the citizens of the republic survive is an entirely different question. It is at times like these that the historical ignorance of the american public is always front and center. Please go back and review many of the elections in this country since the Federalists overplayed their hand in 1798. We are genuinely ignorant as a society. Mark Twain was right.

McCain will lose (if he loses) because McCain's idea of the surge worked so well and because President Bush kept us free of terrorist attacks. The national security issues have receded into the shadows, and that makes it hard for McCain.

Good Lord. It's like an earthquake, isn't it. We're going to have eight hours or more of people just making stuff up.

Black Panthers at a polling site. The "Fairness Doctrine" (Orwell) reimposed. Another “new” candidate and movement in the wings, ready to perform announced miracles such as healing the planet. A candidate with a curious mixture of Nixon and Carter: suppression and innocence.

I do so hope that Obama and his congregation are right that there is no real national security threat. I would like to find the world he describes, but I can’t see it just now.

So can someone help me who knows at what time we're likely to start hearing results from the big-deal states like VA and PA?

I just made coffee but am ogling palladian's scotch. I wish there were some talking heads who had been kept in storage for the past six months so I wasn't completely sick of the whole raft of faces on every channel. Shouldn't we have a vote?

I was on my way to the local Ben & Jerry's, cuz they're giving out free ice cream cones tonight for election day. Then I heard on the radio that lots of places are giving out freebies. So...I got a free sandwich from Chic-Fil-A, a free coffee from Starbucks, and a free chocolate fudge brownie cone from Ben & Jerry's. Election night is cool! I had to miss out on the free Krispie Kreme donuts, though. :(

And now it's time for Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks and the results!

vbspurs: The California one is being reported on when there are others in other states that aren't really because California currently has same-sex marriage, whereas the amendments in other states are preemptive. The gay marriage issue will be decided tonight. In those other states, you're not going to have gay marriage either way.

Here's where we stand: McCain won Kentucky, a state that Clinton won both times and seems to consistently go for the eventual winner; McCain is ahead right now in Indiana, Virginia, and Florida. The Obama landslide is not happening.

In a novel approach, I've been checking out our local channels (which took a bit of doing, because we just recently switched to satellite and had to figure out where the hell they are). It's a bit interesting, because since I live Davenport, IA, I also live in the Quad Cities (Davenport & Bettendorf in Iowa, and Rock Island & Moline in Illinois), which has a shared media market. Thus, the local affiliates are scattered on either side of the river (at which I'm glancing as I type!!--it was a beautiful, 74-degree day, and it's a balmy, velvety sky night, so all the lights are twinkling over there in Illinois). I'm flipping channels, and there is indeed a difference in energy. The ABC affiliate (Illinois side) has sent local reporters to Grant Park in Chicago, and it's sort of fun watching their dispatches. The newscasters in the Iowa-side media are closer to their typical selves--but then, they don't have an Iowan vying for the top of the ticket, and our polls stay open two hours later.

I ran out to the store earlier, and traffic patterns were heavier than usual, and a little odd. Because my son was out in the neighborhood playing and I had to swing by to get him, I wasn't able to go and drive by local poll sites again, but I will say that I noted significantly longer turn-lane delays at place where'd you be turning off a main artery to reach a couple of polling sites.

WQAD (IL) did a snipprty of a story about some people coming back a second time this evening after having run out of time over their lunch hours. I find that kind of commitment and determination heartening, myself. Of course, I'm not comparing that experience to anyone who's had to stand, or is standing, in lines for hours upon hours!!!!

Brooks has always had that little smirk when he talks on TV. I previously thought it was just haughtiness (after all he did write a book, tho I don't know what else he's done). But now I see that they are quick sideglances; he is looking off-camera for approval, by Jim Lehrer and others offstage.

vbspurs: To be fair though, CNN has not yet called WV. CNN usually is the most cautious about calling states, and I'm putting my trust in them, since we've had experiences in the past of states being called incorrectly.

Oh, this is freakin' hilarious! As I type, I have one phone for one phone line tucked under my ear and another one on speaker, both live and active, both political "get out the vote" calls, and one of which is the second one from "Sen. Barack Obama" himself that I've received in less than oh, 15-20 minutes. ("Michelle" was the one peppering us with calls prior to today, but I guess it's time for the big gun himself now).

That's Tony Perkins' line, but I don't see it happening. Proposition 8 will likely pass tonight, but it won't be the end of the issue by any means. In a century or two gay marriage is almost certainly going to be a reality, the only question is when. It won't be settled for all time tonight. We do not live in extraordinary times. Our generation is not special. This is, almost certainly, not the most important election of our lifetimes (and I only say "almost" because by default one of them must be).

This is a Democratic year, with a horrificly unpopular US President as incumbent. By every metric, Barack Obama should've closed the deal by A LOT over a month ago. We're talking high double digits, easily.

He may of course, still win. But with all humility, that is indeed my prediction.

THE WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK GIANTS are on Sunday Night football this week against AJ's Eagles. We will continue our march through the NFC East as we have done by bitch slapping Lawgiver's pitiful Cowboys.

Did I tell you lately that the Giants won the Super Bowl?

(That was your sports interlude. Now back to wall to wall election coverage).

Bail out money was given to PNC Financial Services and not to National City Bank (my city's largest bank). PNC was then told to use the bail out money to scoop up National City. So...apparently the bail out cost Cleveland it's biggest bank and one of its last Fortune 500s. Was that how it was supposed to work? To cost one of the poorest cities thousands of jobs, by giving one bank government money to buy another bank? Maybe I don't understand. But both McCain and Obama supported that....

(I'm myself, as noted above, have been keeping an eye on both Iowa and Illinois local coverage from position in the Quad Cities, as well as flipping through the stuff available on cable--whoops! I mean satellite. Which reminds me ... hey, I could go see what, for example, BBC America is doing!

Sometimes I wish Greg Gutfeld (and Bill Schultz/Andy Levy) would give the late night talk shows a run for their money. 11:30-12:30 instead of 3 AM. But I heard the reruns of O'Reilly often beat all the other shows handily.

On election day 2004, I was in a hotel coincidentally in Ohio on business.

The Ohio race was decisive and it was neat surfing the state of Ohio's website and getting the most up-to-date results just moments before the networks did. I was glad to see the Cleveland results finalized because it told me Kerry had run out of potential voters and could not beat Bush.

AP exit polling is apparently indicating that 1/3 of people--actually, they may have said Republicans, so CAVEAT--voting for Mitch Daniels in Indiana also voted for Barack Obama. At least that's what I just heard from the other room (CAVEAT II) on a cable news channel.

Reader, local channels here are pretty poor - they tell us what the tally is, but now how many precincts have been counted. So far, last time I glanced, they were reporting that Daniels is leading for Governor, blue dog Brad Ellsworth is cruising to reelection in the 8th, and the Pres is tied.

Here's a sad irony: a friend of mine registered in Virginia but living in New England registered for an absentee ballot. It never arrived. So she doesn't get to vote - yet I just read that astronauts on the space station, in orbit got to vote. Messed up.

What's everyone's soundtrack, by the way? I've got some Automatic for the People.

Reader, the conclusion someone mentioned in commenting on another post today is apt: it's the news cycle. They want to be on the air, but if they don't have anything they have to recycle non-news. It's like 9/11 where they endlessly replayed that footage to fill the time.

"What's everyone's soundtrack, by the way? I've got some Automatic for the People."

Right now, it's Terry Riley's "Persian Surgery Dervishes". Then perhaps Glenn Gould playing Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. Then, depending on how things are going, either Purcell's Ode on Saint Cecilia's day followed by Handel's "Eternal source of Light Divine" or Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, followed by Brahm's 4 Ballades, Op. 10, followed by Bach's "Trauerode" BWV198 in the case of an Obama victory.

Simon: I have to say that what appears to be going on in Indiana, at least so far, keeps reminding me of my visit to my birth-state (my mother's, and her mothers, and beaucoup relatives) this summer for that large (and I do mean large), subset of a family reunion.

By the way, the glasses in my photograph of tonight's booze menu were chosen with symbolism in mind: an 18th century trumpet glass for a sense of history and a Castiglioni-designed whiskey glass for quantity.

In an earlier post you said you were looking out on the Mississippi from your home in Davenport. I just think that's great. I mean, most of us just look out on the house across the street or some woods.

Im here in Phoenix, Az. I had early voted, but my local place was crowded this morning, not as crowded around 5pm.

ABC just projected a bunch of states including PA for Obama, but I guess we will see.

This is so exciting. In my classroom, most of the kids registered Republican, but about half voted for Obama, with four picking nobody, oddly. (Special needs kids, so simpler learning level). One kid picked Cynthia.

I think if Obama wins it's better. Worse is better, in this case. Better the shitstorm full in the face now than four years of wishywashy liberalism under McCain. Wake up nice naives! No? Well, a dose of Obama will wake you.

Ah. Well, Davenport at heart a river town, and we live in an old home in an older neighbor, so it's a perk (to go along with all the non-perks of living in older, non-efficient, in-need-of-refurbishing, home). We're not ON the river, but we live very close indeed to it, and we're on the crest of a steep incline, and so we have river views from both main floors from this time of year until spring's full leaf and from the other year-round--despite all those dang neighbors' homes between us and the Mighty M. Which while not so very mighty, comparatively speaking, at least flows on an E-W line (fun fact!) right where I am.

Oh no, that does not mean that I would vote for Barack Obama, the farm bill enthusiast who has promised to turn a recession into world depression by reverting to primitive pro-poverty protectionism. And it doesn´t help that he wants to give trade unions more control over the unorganised and doesn´t care that social security will collapse and bring down the house.

Our best hope is that Obama is lying. Many think he is. I hope so, but I don´t know, especially not when he will be kept in line by a strong Democratic-protectionist majority in Congress. Many probably just think about Obama like Elaine thought of her date when Jerry asked her about his views:

Walt Williams. So I said "What's up No Neck, how have you been since you left the Yankees."

He had no freakin' idea what I was talking about.

Foolish provincial. Walt merely closed out his career with the Yankees -- his glory days were with the White Sox.

Consider further that Walt Williams played at the same time as Wilbur Wood pitched for the Sox. What other team had such a string of Ws? The ample-tummied Wilbur Wood won twenty games or more four seasons in a row. Of course, in order to pull this off, the stalwart knuckleballer had to start as many as 49 games.

LoafingOaf said..."I voted for Obama, but now I'm feeling nervous that he won't be as centrist as I've been hoping"

Jesus Christ, you're only just figuring that out now? "Oh, gee, maybe the liberal who's never shown an ounce of interest in working from the center in his entire public record won't actually work from the center given a totally free hand!" I seem to remember several of us told you exactly what was going to happen. Do not look to me for sympathy. that goes for all - all but one - of those who voted for Obama when he turns out to be exactly what we told you he would be.

Ok, so I don't think it's gonna be a huge overwhelming landslide, but I think pretty soon we'll find out that Obama has won Florida and Pennsylvania, and then McCain will just not be able to win. I bet we basically know within an hour.

It might be the cognac or the lagavulin talking but even though I don't want Obama to be president, I've resigned myself to accepting him and trying to like him as best I can should he win. I don't want to turn into a weirdo like so many of my friends did about Bush.

In my state (AZ) those in the know are predicting 80% turnout, which is pretty good given we are so far from Philadelphia.

What are other states doing percentagewise?

Remember when the media was clucking about voting percentages dropping about 40% or less? I think that this election might show that we Americans are not as uninvolved as we have been accused of. I hope it is true, and I hope it is longlasting.

(Yea, I know that we McCain supporters are looking for something positive to say. I predict a philosophical evening, starting in a couple hours.)

Cool. Though I still want to state that I dislike him intensely, I think he's an easily manipulated machine politician with troubling ties to very unsavory characters, I dislike how repulsively the media has behaved throughout this election, I am frightened by his cult of personality and the naivety of his supporters and I think he and his repugnant party will do extensive damage to the country and the economy.

That isn't it, Lem. Kerry won PA, and Barack Obama is no John Kerry. He may win more states than Kery did, but he's just a Chicago thug. If he wins today, the only thing that changes tommorow is the way we're fighting him.

Jesus Christ, you're only just figuring that out now? "Oh, gee, maybe the liberal who's never shown an ounce of interest in working from the center in his entire public record won't actually work from the center given a totally free hand!" I seem to remember several of us told you exactly what was going to happen. Do not look to me for sympathy. that goes for all - all but one - of those who voted for Obama when he turns out to be exactly what we told you he would be.

It's just becoming so much more real tonight. That Obama will win and have so many Dems in the House and Senate. I still believe Obama will prove to be a centrist - in my gut, and based on who he will have advising him - and if he doesn't, things will swing back to the GOP. People sometimes freak out too much over who wins the White House. America will still be America, and for most of us, our lives won't change much either way.

And just so everyone knows, I voted for many Republicans on my ballot today. And a small part of me was tempted to vote for Bob Barr at the last moment, but...I still went with Obama. A large part of the reason why is because I didn't wanna see how crushed black Americans would be if he lost. Also, I still think if Obama stands strong aganst al Qaeda and nukes in Iran, it will be very unifying for the War on Terror - make it more bipartisan.

LoafingOaf said... "It's just becoming so much more real tonight. That Obama will win and have so many Dems in the House and Senate."

Well how fucking wonderful for you that you realized what we've been trying to tell you for weeks after you've already blown it. It's too late. Thanks a bunch. Look on the bright side, at least you don't have to worry about how crushed a bunch of liberal voters is going to feel. I hope that's a lot of comfort.

"What a repudiation of George Bush and the republicans and I absolutely love it."

So does this admission mean that you'll stop your lame-ass sarcastic "lovers of the Bush doctrine" nonsense now? Not that anything else you write is really any better, but that fake Republican bit was especially stupid.

Simon: It's very good for America for black citizens to see that a black candidate can win the White House. That's a big deal. That is going to go a long way in healing racial divisions in America. During this whole campaign, many black people told me they figured Obama would be assassinated or something before he ever could win the election.

Now that Obama is apparently going to win, I will support those trying to keep his most leftist tendencies in check.